Journal de la société des américanistes 88 | 2002
tome 88
Quviasukvik. The celebration of an Inuit winter feast in the central Arctic
Frédéric Laugrand and Jarich Oosten
Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/jsa/2772 DOI: 10.4000/jsa.2772 ISSN: 1957-7842
Publisher Société des américanistes
Printed version Date of publication: 1 January 2002 Number of pages: 203-225 ISSN: 0037-9174
Electronic reference Frédéric Laugrand and Jarich Oosten, « Quviasukvik. The celebration of an Inuit winter feast in the central Arctic », Journal de la société des américanistes [Online], 88 | 2002, Online since 05 January 2007, connection on 30 April 2019. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/jsa/2772 ; DOI : 10.4000/ jsa.2772
© Société des Américanistes QUVIASUKVIK THE CELEBRATION OF AN INUIT WINTER FEAST IN THE CENTRAL ARCTIC 1
Frédéric LAUGRAND * and Jarich OOSTEN **
In this papcr wc discuss the cclcbration of Christmas among the Inuit of Northeast Canada. Their adoption of Christianity implied a break with the past. Missionaries as well as Inuit contrasted the traditional life dominated by mauy ritual mies, with the ncw Christian li fe. In practice, the tra nsition was much more complex. Many old ideas and practices did not die as casily as missionaries or Inuit assumed, but returned in a new guise. Using White and Inuit testimonies, we examine hcre the nature of this transition by comparing the pre-Christian Inuit winter-feasts with the celebration of Christmas after the conversion to Christianity. Many features of the prc-Christian religion returncd in the Christmas celebrations but in a ncw contcxt and provided with new meanings. \Ve have considered temporal and regional va ri ation as well as the difforcnces between the Catholic and Anglican versions of the feast. Central topics are: gifts, fo od and drinks, games and sex ual symbolism.
KEY WORDS : Inuit, Christmas, \Vinter-feast, Til'tlj 11111 , ritual, symbolic system, ethnohistory, Canada.
Quviasuk vik : la célébra/ion d'1111e fêle liil'emale in11il dans /'Arcliq11e central Dans cet article, nous examinons les fè tes de Noël chez les Inuit de lArctique de l' Est canadien. L'adoption du christianisme par les Inuit s'est traduite par d'importantes ruptures avec le passé. Comme les missionnaires, les Inuit eux-mêmes ont souvent souligné le contraste entre les multiples contraintes rituelles de la vie religieuse de jadis et la plus grande liberté que leur procurait dorénavant le christianisme. Au niveau des pratiques, la transiti on d'un système à l'autre fut néanmoins beaucoup plus complexe. Loin de disparaître, certaines idées et séquences rituelles réapparurent de fa çon sensiblement différent e. À partir de témoignages recueillis par des lllancs et des Inuit, nous analysons de plus près la nature de cette transition en comparant les fê tes d'hiver traditionnelles avec les fê tes de Noël. Des éléments traditionnels connurent une certaine pérennité mais au sein de nouveaux contextes et avec de no uvelles significations. Nous avons tenu compte des variations temporelles, régionales et confessionnelles. Les principaux aspects examinés sont les cadeaux, la nourrit ure, les boissons, les jeux et la symbolique sex uelle.
MoTS CLÉS: Inuit, Noël, fètes d'hiver, Til'aj11111, rituel, systèmes symboliques, ethnohistoire, Canada.
* Université Laval, Ste-Foy, GIK 7P4, Québec, Canada. ** Uni vcrsitcil Lci Quviasukvik : la celebraci611de 111wfiesta i11l'em al de los i1111it del este de Ca11adti En este articul o, se analizan las fiestas de Navidad de los inuit del este de Canada. La conversion a l cristianismo de los inuit implic6 una ruptura mayor en sus tradiciones. Corno los misioneros, los inuit frecuentemente contrastan la nueva situaci6n religiosa con la precedente, caracterizada por sus numerosas reglas e interdicciones rituales. Sin embargo, al nive) de las prùcticas, esta transici6n de un sistema al otro parece mucho mas compleja. En lugar de clesaparecer totalmente, algunas icleas y prâcticas ritua les reaparecieron de una manera mùs o menos distinta. Utilizando narracioncs de testigos occidentales e inuit, analizamos en detalle esta transici6n. Comparamos las fiestas invernales de los inuit con las fiestas contempor{1- ncas de la Navidad. En este caso se destaca rupturas y continuidades dentro de nuevos contextos festivos. Tomamos en cuenta las variaciones temporales, regionales y confesionales. Elemcntos considerados incluyen los regalos, los a limentos, las bebidas, los juegos y el simbo- Iismo sex ual. PALABRAS CLA Vl'.5 : Inuit, Navidad, fi estas del invierno, Tiraj1111t , rito, sistcmas simb61icos, etnohistoria, Canadù. Quviasuhik, « the lime and/or place of joy », is rootcd in Western as well as in Inuit traditions. In contemporary Western societies, Christmas is part of a complex cycle in the C hristian liturgical calendar celebrated in the church, al home or in the community at large. The traditions of the C hurch and those of popular religion usua lly co-exist and internet. They m ay a lso clash and this may even lead to a ttempts to repress supposcdly non-Christia n dimensions of C hristianity as illustrated by D. Miller ( 1993). The burning of an eflïgy of Santa C laus in Lyon by two bishops in 1951, described by C. Lévi-Strauss ( 1952), evokcd a pagan ritual and illustratcd the complexity of the separation of Christian and non Christia n elements in the Euro- American tradition. The complexity of modern Christmas celebrations shoulcl be seen in a historical 2 perspective . In the early Christian Church, Easter, not Christmas, was the most important religious fcast. Christmas celebratio ns only gaincd importance in the 4th century AD. The Roman Church adopted the date of D ecember 25, celebrated by the Romans as the winter solstice. The choice expresses the close conncction between C hrist and the sun in early C hristian religion. Christ rapidly adopted striking features of the sun god Helios such as the halo. T he resurrection of Chri st took place on a Sunday, the day that replaced the Jewish Sabbath as a day of religious observation a nd celebration. In the Roman empire the celebration of Christmas replacecl the feast of Sol !111•ict11s, the rebirth of the sun at Dccember 25. The liturgical C hristian calenclar cleveloped in accordance with pre-Christian practices. In Celtic religion the year was divided into Beha ine and Samuin. Samuin began at N ovember 1si . Then the clead roamed about and a period of intensive ritual activity started that ended after the winter solstice. The C hristian calcndar followed a similar pattern. The period from November 1 (Ali Saints) until the bcginning of January (Epiphany) is a period of intensive ritual activity. Jt is characterizecl by various features such as masquerades, gift giving, extinguishing and re-lighting of lamps, etc. Thcse features emerge in various combinations in festivities such as Santa Claus and Epiphany. Many studies have been devoted to these rituals and their Laugrnnd, F. & J. Oosten] THE CELEflR ATION OF AN IN UIT \VI NTER Ffü\ST 205 interprctation. T hus C. Lévi-Strauss argues that white receiving prescnts from Santa Claus the children represent the dead. Santa Claus himself is a complex figure, combining the features of a saint with those of the devil. In somc parts of Germany and Austria, Santa Claus was a member of bands of masked figures, sometimes with black faces and chains, roaming the streets, tcrro rizing the womcn. They were wcaring attributes of devils and associated with dcath as well as sexual ribaldry. Santa Claus was introduced in North America by the Dutch in the seventeenth century. At that peri od, the feast of Santa Claus was celebrated as feast of children and youngsters. The sexual overtones of the feast werc obvious. The ambiguous behavior of Santa Claus was adopted in America when the Dutch and G erman Santa Claus traditions were integrated into American culture. The sexual connotations were supprcssed in most places, but often preserved in sangs and attributes of Santa Claus. When studying the impact of Christmas on Inuit socicty we have to takc into account that Euro-Amcrican celebrations contained a wide va riety of traditions dealing not only with the birth of Christ, but also with the winter solstice, the visit of the dead, gifts to children, and scxual symbolism. These features arc often deeply rooted in Euro-American traditions of Christmas and somctimes combined. Still, considerable rcgional variety existed in the use of specific symbols such as Santa C laus, the Christmas tree, choice of foods and other charactcristic features of cele- brations in Northwest Europe and North America. White on the whaling ships ambiguous songs and danccs were part of the Christmas celebrations, missionarics la ter emphasized the rcligious aspects of the feast. Ali thesc clements had an impact on Inuit cclcbrations of Christmas, but they were not valorized by the participants in the sa me way. Moral discussions on how Christmas should be cclcbrated always were part of the feast. In the development of Q11l'ias11hik strands from Inuit trad itions and Western traditions mergcd. We explore some of the principles and values in the transformation of these « TRADITIONAL » INUIT \VINTER FEASTS The Inuit winter feasts were cclcbrated in the fait or the early winter. Various descriptions or (parts of) thcse winter-feasts cxist in the ethnography. C. F. H all (1864, 1, p. 528) provides one of the earliest accounts of the feast as cclcbrated by the Nugumiut in South Baftin Isla nd : At a lime of the year apparently answering to our Christmas, they have a general meeting in a la rge igd/11 [snow house] on a certain evening. There the angakoq (the shaman] prays on behalf of the people for the public prosperity through the subsequent year. T hen follows something like fcast. The next day ail go out into the open air and fonn in a circle ; in the centre is placcd a vessel of water, and cach member of the company brings a picce of meat, the kind being immaterial. T he circle being formed, cach person eats hi s or her meat in silence, thinking of Sedna, and wishing for good things. Then one in the circle takes a cup, clips up some of the water, ail the lime thinking of Sedna, and drinks it ; and then, before passing the cup Io another, states audibly the lime and the place of his or her birtb. This ceremony is performed by ail in succession. Fina lly, presents of various a rticles are thrown from one a nother, wi th the idea that each wi ll receive of Sedna good things in proportion to the libcrnlity here shown. Soon after this occasion, al a lime which answers to our New Year's day, two men start o ut, one of thcm being 206 JOURNAL DE LA SOC IÉTÉ DES AMÉ RICANISTES [88, 2002 dressecl Io represent a woman, and go Io every house in the village, blowing out the light in each. The lights arc afterwarcls rckinclled from a fresh fire. \Vhen Taqulitu was asked the meaning of this, shc replied, « New sun-new light », implying a belief that the Still was al that lime renewed for the year. In this brief description wc find many clements that return in la ter descriptions of Inuit winter fcasts and Christmas celebrations. According to Hall, this feast comprises one evening and the next day. T he evcning is markcd by the activities of the a11gaklwi1 (the shamans), praying on behalf of the community. The next day the focus shifts from the actions of the a11gakk11i1 to the feast of the community at large. Meat and drinks are shared by ail participants. Each one has to bring a piece of meat. Whercas the meat seems to be consumed simultaneously, each individual conccntrating on Sedna (the i1111a o r owner of the sea game), the water seems to be consumed in succession by ail participants, but the order is not indicated. Each one in turn spccifies lime and place of birth. The time of birth refers to summcr or winter indicating whcther one belongs Io the ducks (or the summer people) or the ptarmigans (or winter people). Then presents are exchanged. T he liberality shown is reciprocated by Sedna. Subsequently the lights arc extinguished by two men dresscd up as women visitiug a il the houses. Finally the lamps are rekindled from a fresh fire. It is not specificd by whom the fire is rekindled or how the fresh fire is made. The explanation by Taqulitu suggests a close relationship betwcen the new sun and the ncw light. A much more extensive description of an Jnuit winter-feast is given by Franz Boas ([1888] 1964, pp. 195 ff.). F. Boas witnessed it in Qiqirtat (Kekcrten Island), C umber- land Sound, on November 10, 1883. T he feast was celebrated laie in the fa ll. The 111pilai1, the spirits of the dead, who did 1101 arrive at thcir final destiny in the land of the dead, attacked the community, people as well as dogs. T hese evil spirits brought sickness, death and bad weather. T he angakkuil werc intensively pcrforming their practices inside the housc to protect the people. ln a large hui the ri tuai of harpooning Sedna, was conducted by the angakkuil. She was lured up by a magic song and harpooned with a seal spcar. Shc freecl herself from the harpoon and clescended to the underworld again. T he angakkuil showed the bloocl-sprinkled harpoon to the audience. The next day a great festival fo r young and old was celebrated. Ali wore protective amulets (such as the garments they wore after birth) to protect themsclves against Sedna who was still enraged. Then : The men assemble ea rly in the morning in the middle of the seulement. As soon as they have ail got together they run scrcaming and jumping a round the houses, fo llowing the course of the sun (111111aji.1·m·11111g or kafritij1111g). A few, dressed in women's jackets, n111 in the opposite direction. These arc those who werc born in abnormal prcsentations. The circuit macle, they visit cvery hut, and the woman of the ho use must always be in waiting for the111. When she hcars the noise of the band she co111cs out and throws a dish containing little gifts or 111cat, ivory trinkcts, and articles of sealskin in lo the yelling crowd, of which cach one helps himself to what he can gct. No hui is 0111itted in thi s round ( irqata/1111g}. The crowd next divides itself into Iwo parties, the ptarmigans ( axigi1'11 ) , th ose wh o were born in the winter, and the ducks {aggi1'11 ), the child ren of the summer. A large rope of sealski n is stretchecl out. One party takes one end of it and tries with ail its 111ight to drag the opposite party over Io its sicle. The others hold fa st to the rope and try as hard to makc ground for themselves. Tf the ptar111i gans give way the su111mer has won the ga me and fin e weathcr may be expectcd Io preva il through the winter ( 11 us.weraq11111g). Laugrnnd , F. & J. Oostcn) THE CELEBRATION OF AN INUIT \VINTEll FEAST 207 The contes! of the seasons having been decided, the women bring out of a hu t a large kettle of water and each person takes his drinking cup. They a il stand as near to the kettle as possible, white the oldest man among them steps out first. He clips a cup of water from the vesse), sprinkles a fcw drops on the ground, turns his face toward the home of his youth, and tells his name and the place of his birth (oxsoax.wrep1111ga - me, l was born in-). He is fo llowed by an aged woman, who announces her name and home, and then ail the others do the same, down to the young children, who are represented by their mothers. Only the parents of children born during the last yea r are forbidden to partake in this ceremony. As the words of the old are listened to respectfully, so those of the distinguished huniers arc rcccived with demonstrative applause and thosc of the others with va rying degrees of attention, in somc cases even withjoking and raillery ( i111ilij1111g). Now arises a cry of surprise and a il eyes are turned toward a hut out of which stalk two gigantic figu res. They wca r hcavy boots ; their legs are swellcd out to a wonderful thickness with sevcral pairs of brccchcs; the shoulders of each are covered by a woman's ove1jacket and the faces by tattooed masks of scalskins. ln the right hand each carries the seal spear, on the back of each is an inflated buoy of scalsk in, and in the left hand the scraper. Silcntly, with longstrides, the qailerle/a11g (figure 146) approach the assembly, who, screaming, press back fro m them. The pair solemnly leads the men to a suitablc spot and set them in a row, and the women in another opposite them. They match the men and women in pairs and these pairs run, pursued by the qailer/e/a11g, to the hut of the woman, whcre they are for the fo llowing day and night man and wife (1111/ia11i1i1ij1111g) . Having performcd this dut y, the qailerteta11g stride clown Io the shore and invoke the good north wind, which brings fa ir weat her, whilc they warn off the unfavourable south wind. As soon as the incantation is ovcr, ail the men attack the qailerteta11g with great noise. They actas if they had weapons in their hands and would kill both spirits. One pretends to probe them with a spear, another to stab thcm wit h a knife, one to eut offthcir anns and legs, anothcr to beat them unmcrcifully on the head. The buoys whieh they carry on their backs are ripped open and collapse and soon they both lie as if dead beside thcir broken weapons ( pilekti11g). The esk imo leave them to gel their drinking cups and the qailertetm1g awakc to ncw life. Each man tilt s his sealskin with water, passes a cup to them and inquircs about the future, about the fortunes of the hunt and the events of life. The qailerleta11g answer in murnrnrs wltich the questioner must interpret for himself. The evening is spent in playing ball, which is whipped ail around the seulement ( aj11ktaqt1111g) (see Appendix. Note 6) (Boas ( 1888) 1964, pp. 195-1 98). T his description of the winter-feast provided by Boas ([ 1888] 1964) in his first monography differs on some points significantly from the data collectecl in his field notebook as publishecl by L. M üller-Wille (1998). T hus the reference to the fac! that the men rnnning around the settlement in the early morning wear their best pants is not retainecl in the 1888 description. Various cletails that suggest direct infl uence or contact with the whalers are also omittecl. For instance, in his notebook Boas relates that the men visitecl the house of Captain Mutch a nd the cooper. ln his diary, Boas notes that after the public statements relating to the o rigins a nd the names of the parti- cipants,« a snowm au with eoal fo r eyes was built clown below and the men shot at it » (M iiller-Wille 1998, p. 137) and he no longer refers to his own intervention as he threw out beacls among the people resulting in a fi ne strnggle for the beads (ibid. p. 138). Tt seems that Boas was intent on clescribing the wi nter-feast as a« traclitional Inuit feast » a nd clicl not want to clistort that pict ure by unnecessary references to Western innuences o r participation. However, some of the features omittecl such as the use of best clothes and the shooting became important features of later Christmas celebrations. 208 JOURNAL DE LA SOCIÉTÉ DES ａｾ ｉ ｒｉ ｃａｎ ｉ ｓｔｅｓ＠ (88, 2002 Moreover, it may well be that a crucia l stage of the rit ual, the ha rpooning of Sedna on the eve of the feast, is entirely based on reconstruction, as no reference is made to it in the notebook in the en tries on November 10 and November 11. Apparently, Boas spent the night of November 10 to 11 reading three books. Despite these reservations the description of the feast by Boas still provides the 3 most detailed and instructive account of the feast avail able . A t the beginning of the winter feast, the evil spirits of the dead attack the communities. The exchange of violence between the spirits of the deceased and the Inuit is gradually replaced by friendly competition and a sharing of women and goods by members of the community representing the dead. At the end of the fea st, the members of the comnmnity play the aj11ktaqt1111g game that is also played by the U/lor111i11t , the people of the day, the souls of the deceased in the sky. The Ullor111i11t are thought to have a happy life, in contrast with the tupi/ait, the spirits of the dead, that cannot find rest. T he antagonistic relationship between the evil spirits of the dead and the Inuit is gradually transformed into a positive relationship between the Inuit and their 4 deceased ancestors allowing them to represent the people of the day in play • In the course of the ritual the success of the hunt is assessed in various divinatory games such as the tug-of-war of the ptarmigans and the ducks. Thus we may infer from the structure of the ri tuai that the relationship to the spirits of the dead is decisive in determining the success of the hunt. It is remarkable that the animais themselves never are partners in the ritual interactions between the Inuit with either the spirits of the dead or Sedna and her representati ves, the qailertetang. The sexual intercourse betwcen men and women plays an important part in the ritual. lts meaning remains implicit, but it is also a recurrent fcature of the Inuit winter feasts in the North Baffin area, the Tfrajuut 5. More generally, it is a striking feature of ritual exchange in Inuit communities that directly drew the attention of the missiona- ries and became one of the main issues of controversy. Apparently this sexual intercourse was thought to favor the hunting of game. The exchanges in the feast as described by Boas concern sma ll gifts such as « meat, ivory trinkets, and articles of sealskin into the yelling crowd, of which each one helps himself to what he can get. No hut is omitted in this round (irqatat1111g). » These distributions resulted in a general competition (scramble) for the goods. T he distribution of Boas' own beads follows the sa me pattern. The distribution of the women is qui te another matter. lt is regulated by the intervention of the rcpresentatives of the spirits who organize the adults into pairs. A ritual fo nn of drinking occurred during the feast relating the Inuit to their origins. Exchange of food seems to play arole of minor importance in the feast. In her description of the Tfrajuut, the late Rose Iqallijuq, referred to an abundance of food after the feast as it was celebrated in Jglulik, North Baffin Island. When the Aagjuuk 6 stars began to return in the midd le of the December , the Til>ajuut was celebrated in the qaggiq, a big igloo specially built for a feast. According to George Agiaq Kappia- naq, an eider from lglulik, the celebration was made to strengthen the land (MacDo- nald 1998, p. 40). There is no reference to Sedna or the i1111a of the sea in hi s descriptions of the feast. T he contest between the aggiqiq (ptarmigans) and aggimjuit (ducks) played an important part in the feast (MacDonald 1998, pp. 120-123). A central part of the ritual was the formation of couples that had to sleep together. T his laugrand, E & J. Oostcn] THE CELflllRATION OF AN INUIT WINTER FEAST 209 was done by two maskcd a11gakk11it. When the pairs wcrc formed, the other partici- pants in the feast tried to make them laugh, but the pairs had to restrain themselves. Accorcling to Rasmussen (1929, pp. 231-232; pp. 24 1-243), the feast was followecl by a copulous meal of ig1111aq (agecl walrus meat). In his paper, B. Saladin d'Anglure (1989, p. 165, footnote 29) points out that the distribution of women by the Iwo masked m1gakkuit was referred by the same term as the distribution of frozen meat, ikujijut. The woman was referred to as an ikuktaq, a part separated from a whole by a violent act. The dating of the feast is unclear and may have varied in differeut areas. Hall connects it to Christmas. In Aretic Bay, C. Troll (oral com., 17-08-1998) recorded a song referring to the rising of Akkuktujut (Orion's shoulder stars). He was told by Inuit that in the darkest period when both the sun and the moon were bclow the horizon, the rising of this star told the Inuit that daylight was about to return, and was thus an occasion for celebration. More recently, George Kappianaq from Iglulik connected the feast to the appearance of the Aagjuuk. Thus the Tfrajuut seems Io have been celebrated in December. Boas wituessed a winter feast on November 10, 1883. Bilby (1923, p. 210) connects the feast to the tempes! uous weather following the Arctic summer. Thus the fcast was celebrated much earlier than December in South Banin Land. Apparently the fcast was not connected Io the winter solstice, but prepared the hunting of the winter season. INU IT \VINTER FEASTS AND CHJUSH.IAS European and American Christmas traditions may already have played a part in 111 7 the shaping of the Inuit winter fcasts in the 19 century • Inuit had often the opportunity to witness celebrations of Christmas on the ships of explorers and whalers. In 1860, several Inuit witnessed Christmas on Hall's ship. H e gave a Bible to Tookoolito who had spent two years in E ngland : Among the other incidents to be mentioned [ ... ] l must not forge! to say that Christmas and New Year's Day were celebrated by us in our winter quarters with ail the honours it was in o ur power to show. A few of the natives were on board to dine on Christmas Day, a nd I look the opportunity to give Tookoolitoo a Bible that had been placed in my hands by the Young men Christian's Union of Cincinnati, and which l thought could not be devoted to a better purpose. 1 inscribcd upon il the following : « Presented to Tookoolito, Tuesday, December 25th, 1860 ». « Her first act was Io read the tille, " Holy Bible", then to try and read somc of ils pages, which she still longs to understand. »(Hall 1864, p. 193) Hall and Boas both record that in the winter feasts everyone received a drink of water and then solemnly pronounced his name and place of origin. This type of ri tuai may have been inspired by European traditions of drinking to the health of important people and frieuds in the homcland at Christmas that were also practiced on European 8 ships . Alcoholic beverages, abundant food and even cross-dressing may have been recur- rcnt fcatures of Christmas celebrations on board of the ships. Lyon (1 824 ; quoted in Harper 1983, p. 2) described a Christmas celebration in 1821 : 2 10 JOURNAL DE LA ｓｏｃ ｲｔｉ ｾ＠ DES At.11ilucANISTES [88, 2002 On Christmas Eve, in order to keep the people qui le a nd sobcr, we performed Iwo farces, and exhibited phanlasmagoria so lhat the night passed mcrril y. Christmas Day was very fin e, and we ail attended church on board the Fury as wc had been accuslomcd to do cvery Sunday si nce wc werc frozen in. The people then rcturned Io lheir dinncrs at which English roast beef, that had been kept untainted sincc the t ra nsport left us, was the principal luxury. To these wcre added cranberry pies and puddings of every shape and size, wilh full allowance of spirits. l never indeed saw more general good humour and merriment on a Christmas day since Twe nl to sea. A pretty compliment was paid to ail the ofli cers by a well meaning, but certainly not very sober crew, by absolutely forcing each in his turn, beginning with myself, to go out on the lower deck and have his heallh drank with three hearty chcers. 11 On the 26' , we sent ail the people fo r a run on the ice, in o rdcr to put !hem to rights, but thick weather coming on, it became necessary to rccall them, and, postponing the d inner hour, they were a il danced sober by 1 PM, the fiddler being, fortunately, quite as he should be. During this curious ball, a willy fellow allendcd as an old cake woman, wilh lumps of frozen snow in a bucket ; and such was the demand for his pies on this occasion, thal he was obligcd Io replenish prelly frequently. Each of the ofticers, in hierarchical order starting with the capta in received a toast. Even tho ugh the celebrations at the ships of Pa rry and Lyon were not wi tnessed by Inuit, similar celebrations on whaling ships o r other vi siting ships may have been obser- ved by Inuit in some areas of Northeast Canada. Was the custom of drinking in turn, following a hierarchical order, observed by the Inuit a nd integrated into their own ri tuais? We do not know. But a hundrcd years earlier, Egede noted with respect to the Greenlanders : « When they come at a water from which they have not drnnken before, an old ma n, if they have one wi th them, should driuk first, in o rder to isolate the Tor- na rssuk, that is the evil in the water that would make the young men ill and die» (Egede 1986, pp. 383-384). T he importance o f flrst acts in Inuit culture is well attestcd, and it seems to be the task of the old men to media te the drinking of water. The drinking of water in hierarchical order as dcscribed by Boas may well be an old Inuit custom. Similarly the cross-dressing on the ships at C hristmas may have inftuenced Inuit rituals. But cross-dressing also played an important part in the winter feasts in G reen land a nd it was pa rt of the naming system in the Northeast Canada. Children named after someone of the opposite sex might be dressed a nd raised according to the gender o f their deceased na mesakes. ln various Studies of C hristmas celebrations in Labrador (Ben-Dor 1969 ;Richling 1983 ;Szala-Meneok 1994) masqueradingrituals 9 were attributed to Western influence, but in fact, we have fa r too litt le data . Just as in the case of the drinking rituals, ethnographie data from another a rea may easily change o ur views. ln this paper we avoid the dangerous question of origins, Western or Inuit, but focus on the emergence of new fo rms of ri tua is combining features of different cul- tural traditi ons. We will examinecelebrations of C hristmas in Northeast Canada, nota- bly the Baftin Island area between 1890 and 1960. We will first consider testimonies from Qa/11111aat observers (White men) a nd then those of Inuit eiders. Christ111as ce/ebratio11 1894-1930s As soon as the missionaries opened a perma nent mission in Baftin Isla nd ( 1894), they instituted the celebration of Christmas. Reverend E . J. Peck recorded brief descriptions of these celebrations in his diary. Laugrn nd. F. & J. Oosten] TllE CELEBRATION OF AN INUIT \VINTER FEAST 2 11 l lad qui te a 1111111ber or our Esk imo fricnds a long today. Severa) brought prcscnts or gloves, caps, etc., which they had knitted, and somc of which they desired us to use for our own comfort, and also Io show to the kind ladies in England who had sent them the wool, and knitting pin s. Arter friendly greetings, we entertaincd our visitors with coffre and cake, and pointed out Io them the lrue reason whywe should rejoicc on this day. (. .. ]The great events of thcscason, viz. distribution of prizes and illumination or Christmas tree, the latter made by Mr. Parker, proved a greal success. (... ) After singing a hymn and engaging in prayer the distribution of prizes look place. These were, first for the mosl rcgular attendanls al school, second, for the most clea nl y. One girl who had nol missed a day al school, received the fir sl prize, another girl had only missed one, whilc anothcr had only been absent twice. Fourtccn prizcs wcre given to those who had shown some love, al least for soaps and water, and had macle their appearance at school with clean faces and hancls. [.. .] Aftcr distribution of prizes, (... ] each mcmbcr of our litlle fl ock was presentcd with some article (ANC/CMS, Reel A. 119, Journal from E. J. Peck, 1895-1 896, 24-1 2-1895). Peck thought the giving of prizes and the illumination of the Christmas tree were the highlights of the day. The Inuit arrived with gifts, some of them intended for the Engli sh ladies who had sent gifts to them. Conversely, al the end of the fea st ail the members of the flock received girts from the missionaries. They provided the Inuit with food and drink and usecl the opportunity to preach the gospel. Thal became a tradition in Uumana1juaq (Blacklead Island, Cumberland Sound). Each Christ mas the missionaries providecl Western style food and drinks and awarded prizes for past perfo rmances. ln 1895, the prizes were given fo r school attendance, two years later for ability to memorize the script ures. Thus the aspect of competition, so essential to Inuit feasting, was preserved in the Christmas cclebrations. Tn contras!, the Christmas tree clic! not gain an important place in Inuit Christmas celebrations for a long time. Christmas celebrations organized by the missionaries continuecl to follow this 10 pattern after Peck left • Special food was proviclecl by the missionaries for the Inuit and the opportnnity was used to teach the Inuit some of the Christian values. A smalt gift was also provided with a reminder of Gocl's Great Gift to humankind (see Fleming's description of a Christmas celebration in 1913 pnblished by Harper (1983, pp. 17-1 8). Among the Oblate, similar traditions can be found. L. Ducharme notes that in lgluligaaijuk (Chesterfield Jnlet), the first Catholic mission in Hudson's Bay opened in 191 2, Christmas was the mostjoyful time of the year. Peoples would corne from a far. Besicles the big meal , missionaries and Grey Nuns used to organize a fi shing party with ail kinds of small gifs : clothes, biscuits, ca ndies, tobacco, pipes, matches, dolls, etc. 11 Christmas celebrations were also organized on visiting ships. An ea rly 20111 century description by Capta in J. E. Bernier shows how Inuit were invited on his ship in North Baffin Island and participatcd in the European celebrations of Christmas in 1906. On December 24 the ship was washed and cleaned and the officers had their stale rooms decorated for Christmas wit h flags and family photos. Our native Kanaka was instructed to tell the other natives that they were invitecl to spend Christmas day on board wilh their famili es. 1 gave orclers 10 the stewa rd to have dinner ready for about one hundred natives. Preparations were made Io rcceive them ; 1 also sent an invitation to Captain Mutch Io celebrate Christmas wit h us. 1 December 25' ', Christmas Day - There was Sunday service in the forenoon ; il was well attended by the members of the expedition and some of the natives who had already arrived for the dinner. At 1 P.M. ail the natives had arrive cl on board with their families; about one hundred 212 JOURNAL DE LA SOCIÉTÉ DES AMÉRICANISTES [88, 2002 a nd twenty pcrsons, thcy sat clown Io a good Canadian dinncr. After dinner 1 addressed thcm a few words ; telling them again that they werc Canadians and would be trcated as such as long as they would do what was right. At 7 P.M. tca and coflèe were scrved Io ail the invitcd, and some candy was given to the clüldren. A deputation of natives and some mcmbers of the crew came and asked my permission to dance on board. Knowing the pleasure it would afford them, 1 couic! not refuse the request and was glad to acccde to thcir wishes and sec that they would amuse themsclves. The natives bchaved vcry well and there wcre no clisturbances of any sort, but perfcct good orcler reignecl throughout. During the cvening there werc clifferent tricks and acts donc by the members of the expcdition and natives. There wcre wrestling matches betwecn Canadians and other matches of the samc style bctween Eskimos ; the men a lso performed acrobatie feats, juggling and other acts. Music sclections from the pianola and the gramophone were given during the evening. The Eskimos danccd to the music of the accordion. It was well on to twelve o'clock beforc the dance ceased and the natives left for their homes. Evcrybody scemed to have enjoyed himself immensely and was glad of the celebration. The Christmas celebration is describecl as a Canadian banquet to which Inuit are invited. Small gifts were often addcd (see also accounts given by Captain H. T. Munn 1932, p. 252). On the ship of Bernier the elemcnt of dancing is added on the request of the natives and members of the crew. The first missionaries also used a gramophone to provide music, but there are no references to dancing in the celebrations they organi- zed. A striking feature of all performances is how Canadians and Eskimos joined in competitive games. Feasting the Inuit on food was also a recurrent feature of Christ- mas cclebrations organized by Qal/111wat (see also the description of Christmas 1910 : Arctic Bay, Baftin Island by J.-E. Bernier in 1909, quoted in Harper 1983, p. 12). C/1rist111as celebmtions in the twenties and tliirties In the twenties and thirties, after many Inuit had already been convcrted in South Baftin Island, Christianity was also adopted by most of the Inuit in the North Baffin arca. Conversions often took place before missionaries arrived : Bibles and Hymn books distributecl by the Anglican missionaries had reached North Baftin Island, and Inuit leaders were acting as fervent Christian proselytes. New rituals such as the siqqitimiq (Laugrand 1997) were devcloped and va rio us parousial movcments com- bining Christian and shamanic features came up in the area (Blaise!, Laugrand & Oosten 1999). In the early thirties, missionaries opcned missions in Mittimatalik (1929), lglulik (1931 , but officially founded in 1933), and Pelly Bay (l 935). Missiona- rics as wcll as traders contributed cxtensively to the development of the Christmas 12 celebrations . Richard Finnie (Harper 1983, pp. 36-39) described his memories of Christmas celebrations at the trading post of Coppermine 1930. The missions and the store look care they had sufficient supplies for that event. By the 24111 ahnost one lrnndred and forty Inuit had assembled al the scttlement. After bui lding their igloos the Inuit « started according to a custom they hacl developed to go the rounds of all the white men's dwellings, staying at cach one long enough to enjoy some refreshments, mainly hardtack and tea. »At Christmas day the trading post apprentice paradcd outside as Santa Claus. The impersonation lasted only for a few minutes. His beard soon fell of and he was recogni zed. Then he handed out gifts Io the children. Later the white Laugrand, F. & J. Oosten] THE CELEBRATION OF AN INUIT WINTER FEAST 213 people danced with the Eskimo women to the latest Broadway tune. At five o'clock a dinner was orga nized at the wireless station. After dinner the Qal/1111aa1 heard that a native dance was performed and joined the Inuit in an eno rmous igloo where a drum dance was performed for several hours. The feast was an occasion for intensive interaction between Inuit and Qal/1111aa1. Qal/111raat hosted Inuit who came to the ho uses to receive treats, but also bccame guests of the Inuit witnessing the dancing and feasting in the great igloo. The great igloo clearly had the function of the traditional feast house ( qaggiq ) where the great winter feasts used to be celebratcd. Whereas Qal/1111aat and inuit danced together at a party given by the doctor, Qal/1111aat did no t participate in the drum dances and the sangs of the Inuit. The impersonation of Santa Claus is unusual. Only much la ter he became an important figure in Christmas cclebrations. In 1935 in Mittimatalik (Pond Jnlet, North Baflin Island) a similar pattern emer- ges from an account of Christmas provided by Alex Stevenson (Harper 1983, pp. 26- 28). Severa! days before Chri stmas, the Hudson's Bay Company store turned baking supplies over to several Eskimo women so that preparations could be made for Christmas dinner. On Christmas Day the Inuit moved into the warehouse for the feast. A special dinner was prepared fo r the guests (the t wo police men and the missionaries). After dinner races and games were held, notably dog tcam races. In the evening a dance party was organized accompanied by accordion and fiddle: « Although the old Eskimo drum dances were still held in some Arctie settlements, the people of Pond In let preferred reels and jigs from the early Scottish whalers. »(ibid. p. 28) Qal/1111aa1 testimonies indicate that they played a central part in the organization of the Christmas celebrations. T hey provided the Inuit with the means to celebrate Christmas. Qal/1111aa1 influences manifcsted themselves in many ways : food, clothing, dances, etc. T hus traditional Inuit dances wcre giving away to new forms of dancing introduced by the Whites. In their descriptions the main emphasis is on food and the tapies of games, music and dancing. Little attention is given to the gift exchange between the Inuit. O n the contrary, in Inuit testimonies referring to the same period the gifts have a central place. Thesc testimonies provide a much bettcr understanding of the ways Christmas was celcbrated by the Inuit. TESTIMON IES or I NUIT ELDERS Inuit eiders have vivid mcmories of the Christmas celebrations in their youth. Obviously these celebrations can not be dated precisely. Most recollcctions by eiders probably refer to the thirties and carly forties. ln the fo ll owing section, we first preseut a few of their narratives taking iuto account regional variation as wcll as va rio us differences and similarities bel wccn Catholics and Anglicans. T hcn we illustrate the merging of Inuit and Christian traditions in the cclebration of Christmas with an account provided by a white observer from A rvi ligjuaq (Pelly Bay). Emile Imaruittuq, about 68 years of age, remembers his first Christmas in the lglulik area (North Bafiin Island). Games were organized by the Oblate missionary. White the light was briefly ou the priest would have a liue tied to the string. He uscd to shoot at the string and that was the game. There would be tliree chances to cul this little string with a 2 14 JOURNAL DE LA SOCIÉTÉ D ES Al\IÉRICANISTES [88, 2002 bullcl. \Vhocver shoots the string would have the prize. Tt was just a 22 gun that wo uld be used. ln the olden days when J started remembering, we used to exchange gifts, we actually would give to o urselves. Even to the standard it was no t n111ch, in th ose days it was very prccious. Thal is how we used to give cach o ther. As the years went by, that giving and receiving attitude starl disappearing. The wholc feeling of C hristmas bas more and more fadcd away. To our grandchil- dren we still give when wc a re able, when we have the money. ln the olden days we also uscd to have a feasl. 1t was the Roman Catholics that introduced to us the cclebration of Christmas. F irst, we would go to the service and in the same place we would have a feast : pilot biscuits, beans, etc. \Ve uscd to make bcans and that was part of the feasl. li used to be so delicious ! ln the olden days thcy startcd celebrating Christmas as well within the homes, eating country food. (... ]My grandmother would takc o ut fl our and makc pancakes during Christmas. That was very special. Many eiders and adults used to savc special food, special diet, fo r Christmas and that's how it was in the Iglulik area . ln lmaruittuq's account the games organized by the priest, the gifts, and the food have a central place. The game hc refers to was oftcu played at Christmas. Country food as well as Western style food were also frequently used according to the eiders. The act of giving is emphasized. The gifts might be srnall, it was the act of giving that counted. Michel Kupaaq, an eider from lglulik, related that the gift might cven be comple- tcly symbolic : People would gather for the feast. ln the Christmas time (Q111•ias11hik), people wo uld go Io church for the mid night mass. But aft cr twelve ho urs, we would go back Io the church. Nowadays, Christmas is longer. \Ve play games a il the week lo ng, until the new Ycar's day comes. At that time, when Christmas was coming d oser, 1 would get happy beca usc it wo uld be C hristmas. But nowadays, we have to m ake gifts, wrap thcm and then put a name on them. At that lime, we didn't have to do thal. \Ve would just give a prescnt Io someoue. Thcre were exchange gifts with the people who wantcd to do thal. Then, we would shake bands. Thcn we would say : « this gift for you is part of an angel ». 1 remember that once somebody gave me a long big knife as an cxchange gift . 1 was happy to gel a knife that long. 1 kept the knifc during the wcek and after C hristmas, as we woukl go out hunting to gel food to survive, 1 was happy bccause 1 thought 1 could use the knife for carving and making an igloo. But just aft er C hristmas, my parents told me to give the knifc back to the person who gave it to me. l did not want to do it, but as I had to, l did it. Usually, the gifts were exchanged and after some lime were returncd. Thcresi Ijjangiaq contrasted the prescnts of today with the exchange gifts of the past : « A ft er the midnight mass, when the service was over, wc used Io exchangc gifts but not like right now, in the o ld way instead. There were no presents but just excha nge gins : ncedles, and so on. » In the descriptions of Tma ruittuq, Kupaaq and I.üa ngiaq, Catho lics from lglulik, priests have an important rolc in the celebration of Christmas. The same impression emcrges from Anglican testimonies. The laie Tategat Akpaliapik, remembers how Christmas was cclebrated in Mittimatalik (Pond ln let, North Daflïn Island) : « During Christmas lime ( Q11Pias11kvik) , Mikiniqsaq (Revcrend J. H . Turner) woulcl vi sit us in the camps. Whcn we were sleeping, Mikiniqsaq woulcl wake us up and we woulcl rcceive presents under our pillows. Then wc woulcl have a big feast in therc ». A South Daflïn eider from Pa nniqtuuq, Sa ullu Nakasuk, dicl not mention the role of the laugrand, F. & J. Oostcn] THE CELEBRATION OF AN IN UIT \VINTER FEAST 2 15 Anglican missionary but again emphasized that cvcn if gifts were small, thcy were crucial fo r the feast : « Wc rcally enjoyed the gifts cvcn if they were not big. Sometimes, we cou Id even gel a dog for C hristmas. We were tha nkful to have Christmas. » The gift of a dog is interesting, cspeeially since dogs, through their names, werc often very closely related to their owner (see Laugrnnd & Oosten 2002). lt is perccivcd here as a small gift. Dut there wcre a lso many celebrations of C hristmas remembercd by the eiders without the prcsence of a ny missionary. Elise Quia ut, a Catholic from lgloolik, rcca lls: When r was a little girl, o n Christmas, we used to gather in a big igloo. Then 1 remembcr that thcre was a feast (11irfrijj11aq) and dancing in Avvajja. 13efore the fcast started, people would go o ut and shoot in the air. 1 was scarcd and 1 thought people werc shooting the moon. It was Christmas or Happy New Year, 1 don't know. [ ... ]Back then, C hristmas wasduring only one day, today, it's ail the week. 1 remember that people, mostly the closes! camps, they used to gather in this qamwq and say a prayer or the midnight mass, even when the missionary was no t around. Like Kupaaq, she emphasizes that Christmas celebrations were mueh shorter in the past. Rachel Uyarasuk, an Anglican eider, grew up in the Kangiqtugaapik area (Clyde R iver / Mittimatalik, No rth Baffin Island). She remembers how the feast was celebra- ted in outpost camps whcrc no ministers were around a nd when 111/uriaqjuaq, Venus, 13 co uld be scen . 1 can tell a bit about the first Christmas 1 remcmbcr. \Ve a il had igluit and wc wcre going Io be cclebrating C hristmas. As children wc were told that we were going to be celebrating C hristmas. \Ve would be told how many days it would be until C hristmas. We started counting the days. \Ve wcrc told that we would be using our persona! effects to celebrate, but it was probably because we wanted to gel new things so by won! of mouth. \Ve kncw wc would be celebrating wc started anticipating the day. In the morning 1 was wokcn up and told today is going Io be C hristmas so Tsh ould wake up. 1 put on my caribou clothing but we tried Io put on our best for that day. Those that had additional clothing did this. 1 was woken up by my father. \Ve went out for a bit and came back and we started shaking hands wi th each other because we hcard that is what we had Io do. Just before we went o ut people started rushing around and my father took a rifle and went out and sho t the rifle. \Ve heard the rifle shot and we ail rushed out. l had clothing with a hat that wa s separate. \Ve were told that a ftcr wc went o ut we were going Io say « hurray ». 1 took my hat that was not attached Io my clothing and my mothcr gave il to me a nd said that was what 1 was going Io use this to say « hurray ».Our neighbors also shot their rifles. T his was going o n while it was still dark . \Ve cou Id hear rifle sho ts and people would go hurray. 1 was holding on to my hat a nd thcn we'd go hurray. \Ve were celebrating a nd were very happy. Later on that day we would go and pray and sing hymns. \Ve wcnt Io someone else's ig/11 and it was cold. Even though it was light it was still wintcr. \Ve ail went in. The women took offtheir kamiik and went up o n the bed platfo rm. The bed platform was tota lly full, there was hardly any place to sil. T here were people sitting ail over the place becausc we were going Io pray. And wc prayed and there was a hymn sung. At turns out that the hymn that was sung was not a C hristmas hymn, but that's the song wc sang. \Ve sang that hymn. People sat clown o n the ft oor because the iglu was so full. After this hymn was sung, somebody would read a prayer. T hcn anothcr hymn would be sung. T his is the first C hristmas l remember. 1 remember the first hymn but 1 don't remembcr the o ther hymns that were sung. After we had sung hymns and prayed a nd wcrc about to go o ut we a il shook hands with each othcr. Those women who had sat on the bed platfo rm put on thci r ka111iik and 216 JOURNAL DE LA SOClblÉ D ES AMÉRI CANISTES [SS, 2002 we ail went ho 111e. \Ve also kncw that wc would be feasting. \Ve would have a fcast wherc we prayed, so ail the meat we would be feasting o n was brought therc. \Ve fca sted on meat. \Ve did not have tea. Thal was t11111u1 that was prcpared as a/11q, wc ale quaq and rt}uq. And we ate meat that wc did not normally eat such as polar bear and caribou. It probably was kept for this occasion. lt was a joyous time bccause we werc celebrating. Thal is the first C hristmas I can remember. Aftcr we had feasted we then started cxchanging gifts. These wcre our own persona! things that we cxchangcd. \Ve did it whcn the day was ovcr. It was already dark. \Ve wo uld go over to another place to exchangc gifts. The gift s that werc exchanged werc not that big. lt could be a caribou skin or a scalskin or any other persona! effccts. It was still a very happy occasion. The handshakes and ritle shots constituted the star! of the fea st. The practice of shaking hands was probably a custom adoptcd from Qal/1111aat and played au impor- tant role in the adoption of Christianity (Laugrand 1997 ; Blaise!, Laugrand & Oos- ten 1999) expressing a new relationship. People came together in an igloo, sang hymns and prayed. There was a feast on country food and gifts were exchanged. Rachel also emphasizes that the gi fts were small and consisted of persona! effects. Hannah Ujaraq recalls how the feast was celebrated at Qikiqtaaijuk, near Iglulik, when there were not yet priests. (... ] when Christmas was coming, we used to build a big igloo and we had danccs in therc for Christmas (Q111•iaks11hik). At that tÎ!ne, wc used to have a fea st in this big igloo, eating caribou meat, 111aktaaq (whale blubbcr), [... ] only country food becausc there was no white man food at that timc. After having a feast, wc used to havedances and say praycrs. Even though there was no ministers the wholc camp used to say prayers. Aloloo, Anguilainuk's son used to preach in our camp. The building of a big igloo is a recurrent feature of Christmas celebrations. The description by Hannah conforms in many respects to the description of celebrations in Kangiqtugaapik by Rachel. In Qikiqtaa1juk there was not yet Qal/1111aat food availa- ble. The laie Victor Tungilik remembers how Christmas used to be celebrated in Naujaat (Repulse Bay, Hudson's Bay), among the Catholics : During Christmas, the Catholic mission would gel items from the Hudson's Bay Company. Also, the Bay Manager would climb up on to p of the housc and wc would have a candy scramble. There would be other ite111s in thispar/mriq, scramblc. lt was very enjoyable. Wh ile we wcre at the Catho lic 111ission, we would 1111g/11ktaq and try to get a stick into a hole. \Ve would wrestle two at a time, and people would get prizes. The prizes were things like tca and tobacco. I was scarcd when somcbody wanted to wrestle with me. It turned out that the persou who wa nted Io wrestle with me wanted to do so becausc he wanted me to win. When 1 liftcd that pcrson 1co uld no t cven fcel bis wcight. Tt turned out that he wantcd 111e to win a prize. 1 couldn't fecl his weight at ail whcn l threw him ou the ground. So at first, here 1 was scared of him and it turncd out hc jus! wanted me to win tea or tobacco. l knew he wasn't trying hard to win at ail. 1 was rcally happy to win. (Oosten & Laugrand 1999, p. 81) The importance of the game is quite clear in Tungilik's account. Christmas provided an opportunity for a gift to Tungilik's opponent. The gamc of 1111g/11ktaq, which consisted in putting a stick into a suspended hale, had sexual symbolism and implications. For instance, the Oblate priest Jean Philippe (1948, pp. 6-7) noted that before Christianity, the winner of that game woulcl be allowed to choose a sexual Laugrn n On Christmas morning, we would ail get up very early in the morning, go to our neighbors' houscs and shakc cvcrybody's hands. Then we would wait a il day for it to gct dark so we couic! star! exchanging gifts with friend and adults. \Ve would givc away needles, pieces of rope, perhaps five bullets for fat her, marbles, thrcad and cven o ur clothing that we've been wearing fo r years. Each of these things bccame treasures, like a multi-million dollar d iamond would be 10 rich people. Dog lcams would come Io our camps bearing gifts from the other camps and we would return their visit in the same way. T here was no feasting but everyone got into gift-giving as if il was going to be the Iast Christmas ever. Our mothers would receive bags, donated by churches, each containing thread, thim ble, needles, face cloth or towel, aud a bar of face soap. It was so cxciting to see a il those nicc-smclling things come oui of the bags one by one ! Each picce was looked al and felt by ail the members of the household before wc wcnt on with the resl. If we werc lud.')', wc would each gel Iwo pieces of candy or gum and maybe even a hard biscuit. Sometimes the RCM P used Io come, by dog tcam,jusl before Christmas and thcy would leave a whole box of biscuits and that would be saved till Christmas nighl. Christmas was not at ail commercial then. \Ve cclebrntcd the birth of Christ and fo llowcd what the tree wise men did on Christmas night. Christmas was not for Santa Cla us and toys and frce candies. T herc was a fo rm of a Santa Claus, a gift-giver, but we weren't taught Io believe in him. T wonder how many children know about our old Christmas days and how much fun they can be without ail kinds of trcats in schools, big community parties for children with cartoons and frcc gifts frorn the government ? Today, the children rely on Santa Claus to makc their Christmas a happy lime with tin sel and gift s. We still have a gift-giving or exchanging but il doesn't gel into a fcvcr-pilch like it used to. \Vhy not try to bring the old spirit of Christmas back this year so we can overft ow with happiness (... ]. Inuit and \Vhitcs cxchanging gifts and going into each othcrs' homes Io wish each olhcr a Merry Christmas ! 218 JOUR NAL DE LA SOCIÉTÉ DES At.IÉRICANISTES [88, 2002 Akecshoo contrasts the old celebrations with modern feasts. Therc was a Santa Cla us, but no one had to believe in him. Schools a nd govcrnment did not yet play an important part in the cclebrati ons. G ifts were sma ll a nd Christmas was no t yet commercial. T he fo llowing account of Christmas wcll illustrates the merging of a new trad ition with many old traditional practiccs. ln Pclly Day the missionaries were vc ry active in o rganizing Christmas celebrations. From the moment he a rrived in Pelly Bay, Father Van de Velde played a central rote in the orga nization of games and competitions. The missiona ries look care of the prizcs that were awarded. T he feast was celebrated in a big igloo, food and competitive games werc the main ingredients of the celcbration. Gonda describes how the lèast was celebratcd there in the early sixties. T he igloo about twenty five feet in diametcr a nd fi ftccn feet in height , was built in a few days. At eight o'clock Christmas Eve, one hundred a nd fi ve gaily attired men, womcn and children assemblcd in the igloo fo r what was to be three nights a nd two days of games, contests, fcasting and prayers. Christmas Eve was highlightcd by ancient Eskimo gamcs and targe! shooting. Fi ring from about twenty-fi ve feet wit h a .22 at strings from which danglcd va rious prizes was quite a feat of marksmanshi p. A few of the contestants mi raculously hit a string and thus claimcd a prizc. A spccial moment of Christmas Eve was the opening of prescnts. Thcse gi ft s were sent to Fathcr Van de Velde from his sistcr in Belgium. T hcre was a gift fo r evcryone. Such practical objccts as cloth, wool, knives and even chess sets were the most frequent items. T he Eskimos hcre are avid chess players. Midnight Mass, said by Father Van de Velde, was solemn and beautiful, and somehow, having this service in an igloo seemed to bring the message that is Christmas so vividly to everyonc. After Mass, we enjoyed a lunch prcpared by the mission and consisting of tea, porridge and biscuits. Candies were distributed to the children. Christmas day was extrcmely cold. T he thermomcter read 48 degrces below zero when everyone came to the igloo at elcven-thirty fo r Ma ss. After Mass everyone wcnt home fo r awhile to wait for the big Christmas dinner at threc o'clock. T he stew had been cooking slowly a il night, and needed last-minute attention beforc serving up. At three o'clock everyone convcrged on the igloo aga in bringing mugs with thcm. Dinncr was rcady. T he first course was sixty frozen a rctic cha r, previo usly sliccd. Aftcr this was put away, the two huge kettlcs of caribou stcw were brought in. Mugs were dipped in and soon this too disappearcd. T hcn the steaming kcttles of tca were brought in . Each family brought its kct tle; thcre were about twenty-five gallon kettlcs full of lovely, strong, hot tea. Necdless to say each was drained. After dinners thcre were more games, contests prizes and candy. T he archery contes! was performed with an ancien! bow of musk-ox horn. Each contestant shot fo ur arrows from about fifteen fect. The targe! was a n iron ring about two incites in diameter stuck in the igloo watt. Practically everyonc had a turn, beginning with the oldest hunter. T he last to try were the small children, and even the womcn took part in il. ln somc ways the day aft cr Christmas was the most cxciting. \Ve movcd out or the igloo fo r somc of the events. T he featurc event was the dog team race. Twcnty-seven drivers a nd one hundred and sixty-two howling dogs took part ; each driver was a llowcd six dogs. li was vcry cold a nd the course was long; ma ny of the Eskimos had donned their ca ribou parkas. T he star! was furious. Many teams got tangled, momentarily, but evcryone was straightcned away, and soon disappeared into the gloom across Pelly Ilay. T he wi nncr Otto Apsaktauk, returned over the course in about fort y minutes, closcly followcd by Augustin Annartok. The rest Laugrand, F. & J. Oosten] THE CELEBRATION OF AN INUIT WINTER FEAST 2 19 soon rcturned to claim their prizes. Each was eligible. Twenty-seven prizes were placed on a table, and each in turn, according to his position in the race, steppcd up to claim a prize. The prizes were good, but, of course, the big prize was winning the race, for this would be remembered, and would be the topic of conversation until the next race. Other o utdoor events includcd the foot races, and one marveled at the endurance of the Eski mos in being able to run in such extreme cold. One was fo r the young men, who ran to the top of a hill about one and one half miles from the Mission and back. The hill is about one thousand feet high and there is a huge cross on top. Every contestant was awarded a prize - with winners getting first choice. At five o'clock it was back in the kaget for the drum dance. One seemed to be transported back to ancien! times listening to the agcd ladies chanting their weird songs and hearing the boom of the drnm and watching the dancer gyrate to the rhythm of the beat. T he dancer would emit an occasional « Iy-lii » which added more strangeness to the atmosphere. ln each of the alcoves there were fi ve or six chantcrs, a nd these ladies would sing the song of the dancer, whatever it was. It might be the Song-of-my Father or the Song-of-my-Grandfather. The drumming and chanting stopped at 10 p. m., and soon everyone went home. Thal is how we celebrate Christmas in Pclly Bay. T he word qaggiq refers to a feast or celebration as well as to the big igloo where a feast is celebrated. The title of Kenn Harper's book qui te rightly identifies il as one of the striking features of Inuit C hristmas celebrations. Country food and games played an important part in the celebrations (see also the account of Christmas celebrations in Pelly Bay by Van de Velde in Eski1110 of 1948). THE ｔｒａｎｓｆｏｒｾ ｴ ａｔ ｉｏ ｎｓ＠ OF THI:! I NUIT \\!INTER FEASTS Cclebrations of Christmas were already recorded by Captains Parry and Lyon in the beginning of the x1x 111 ccntury but Inuit did not participate in !hem. Parry and Lyon did not allow Inuit on the ships on Sundays or H olidays. Neither did the Qa/11111aa1 participate in Inuit winter feasts. Contacts between Qa/lw1aat a nd Inuit were frcquent, and we may infe r that Inuit o bserved what was going on. The Western C hristmas celebrations may have influenced the winter feasts as described by Hall, Boas and Bilby. The rifle shooting, recorded in the diary of Boas, later became a striking feature of the Christmas cclebrations. T he ri tuai drinking of water, described 14 by Hall as well as Boas, disappeared. The importa nce of p utting o n best clothing , gifts a nd games conti nued in the C hristmas celebrations. When the missionaries arrived, C hristmas celebrati ons gradually replaced the Inuit wintcr fcasts. In most places the traditional winter feasts d isappeared rapidly. In 1899, Bilby (ANC/CMS, Reel A. 121, Journal of Julian Bilby, 1898-1899) no tes that shamanism a nd the winter feasts in South Baffin Island were already disappearing. At that time no conversions hacl yet occurred . That year no wi nter feast was held. ln 190 1 he notes that the feast was still celebrated, but only by olcl people. ln North Baffin Island the Til•aj11111 probably clisappeared when the Inuit acloptecl their own version of Christianity long before the missionaries arrived. In 1921-1 922 Rasmussen clic! not witness a Tfraj11111 and could only acquire scant information about il on the basis of the info rmation provided by Ava and Ivalua rdjuk. In recent years, only a few eiders such as Aatuat, (born in 1894), Ujaraq (born in 1901) and lqa llijuq (born in 1905) were able to give accounts of the Tii>aj1111 1 bascd on persona) experience. 220 JOURNAL DE LA SOCIÉTÉ DES AMÉRICANISTES (88, 2002 In South Baffin Island the missionaries provided Western style food a nd drinks to the Inuit. The disappearance of wifc exchange and an increasing importance of food are the most striking changes in the transition from winter feasts to Christmas celebratio ns. In structural terms, food and sex are obviously related together. On the Ievel of play, Anglican as well as Catholic missionaries had no objections to the playing of games and in fa ct played a leading role in organizin g !hem and awarding pnzes. The tradition of hosting the Inuit was a lso adopted by other Qal/1111aat such as Hudson's Bay Company traders and captains of visiting ships. In several cases the Christmas dinner of the Qal/1111aat was kept scparate from the food offered to the Inuit. Thus Fleming's account o f 191 3 makes clcar that the Anglican missionaries had their own Western style Christmas dinner before serving food« likely to be enjoyed by our guests. Two large steaming puddings something like our Christmas pudding but no! nearly so rich were served with molasses for sauce» (Harper 1983, p. 18). The missionaries also provided small gifts to the Inuit. Tn this respect they continued a very old tradition. Boas and Mutch had a lready presented gifts at the winter feast in 1883. The role of the Qal/1111aat in organizing the feast remaincd central. They provided small presents, candy scrambles, and dance and music. Thus Christmas became a fcast that united Tnuit and Qal/1111aat. A part from the communa l celebrations Q((l//l/W((/ might still dine together, and Inuit have their own festive ri tuais, notably handshaking and gift exchange with relai ives. I t is emphasizecl that the gifts couic! be small , and as in the case of Kupaaq, they might even be returncd after Christmas. Tt was the act of giving, no t the gift itself that was most valorizcd. The idea of sharing in gifts as well as food is hence a central feature of these new rituals. It is interesting that even religious boundaries rnight be crossed at Christmas. In a few accounts of Christmas, the Inuit practice of visiting people is also frequently mentioned as an important step of the preparation of the feast. Father L. Schneider (1983, p. 14) rccollects that in Tavani in the l940's, when there was still intense rivalry between Catholics and Anglicans, his Catholic Mission was completely full of Angli- 15 cans al Christmas • The playing of games was also a central feature in the traditional winter feasts (see Boas 1888, pp. 195- 198 ; Oosten 2001). Ga mes (tug-of-war, shooting matches, etc.) as well as satiric sangs structured the feast. Il ended with a ballgame ( ((j11ktaqt1111g). Placed in a circle, ail participants would try to catch the ball thrown into the air. When the ancesto rs, the Ul/or111i11t , would play this game, they appearcd in the sky as the Aurora Borealis. At the start of the fcast the community was threatened by the tupi/ait, the spirits of the evil dead. At the end of the fcast people playcd the game of thcir ancestors in a renewed community. ln the course of the feast a il tensions between spirits, people seem to have been dissolved in the games. Tt is remarkable that since the oie! Inuit winter fcasts disappeared, the significance of the games has not decreased at ail. They were immcdiately integrated into the Christmas celebrations by the missio- naries (see the accounts by Peck, Van de Velde, Schneider) as well as the Inuit themselves. The description of the feast in the big igloo shows the great importance of games. Today, the extension of the celebrations over many days is to a large cxtent due to the games in which Inuit participate with great enthusiasm. In fact, many old games practiced during the o ie! Inuit winter feast, such as tug-of-war, are preservcd in new Laugrand, F. & J. Oosten] T HE CELEBRATION OF AN INUIT \VINTER FEAST 221 forms while new games were added and invented ail the lime. Il seems fair to assume ttrnt on this point the ideology of the comnmnity has not ehanged at all in the winter celebrations. ln Inuit society games always served to dissolve the tensions within the community and transform potentially dangerous and hostile relationships into com- petition within the games. In playing games, the community shows its capacity to deal with these tensions and to dissolve them in a general atmosphere of friendly compe- tition. (cf the case of Victor Tungilik) Today, eiders complain that Christmas has become commercial. Leah d'Argen- court refers nostalgically to a time when shops and government did not yet meddle with the feast. From the data it also emerges that from the first interaction between Inuit and Qa/11111aat, as missionaries, whalers and captains of ships and Hudson's Bay Company agents played a part in the organization of the celebrations. The currcnt commercialization and increase of scale of the feasl appears to be a continuation of tradition that was always thcrc. The varions names of the feast elucidatc varions aspects of it. Niril>igjuaq («place/tune of the great meal ») refers to the importance of food that has becomc a central issue in the feast. Many missionaries objected to this tcrrn that did not express the essence of Christmas to them. They preferred the name of Pi1•ij11aq (« the big cvent »)or like Father Schneider ( 1983, p. 14) the name Jisusi A11i1•1•ia («the birth of Jesus »). The tenns N11qqavik («the time when we stop») or Qiti11g11q (« in the middle ») reflect the contras! between the time of the feast and ordinary time. The word Q11vias11kliik, («the place/time of joy ») ernphasizes that Christmas is first and foremosl a time of rejoicing. That also seems to have been the case with the winter feast and the Tivaj11111 with their great emphasis on fun and laughter or the reverse. lt may be significanl that in the shamanic complex the notions of joy and light were closely related. The Inuit winter feasts transformed hostile relationships with the dead into a new alliance between the community and the ù111a of the game. Whereas in the traditional winter feasts the initial emphasis was on the danger of the l11pilait attacking the community, the Christian tradition emphasizes the eoming of light, connecting the birth of the Saviour to the return of the light. The celebration of New Year at the winter solstice is therefore highly significant. The transition to Christianity also implied a shift from sexual symbolism to alimcntary symbolism. Sorne of the basic patterns in the Christian tradition may have looked tàmiliar to Inuit and that may have facilitated its adoption by the Inuit. Thus Quviasukvik connects the past and the present articulating central values of Inuit and C hristian traditions. * * Manuscrit reçu en juin 2001, accepté pour publication en janvier 2002. 222 JOURNAL DE LA SOCIÉTÉ DES AMÉRICANISTES [88, 2002 NOTES 1. \Ve wish to tha nk Thercsi ljja ngiaq, Emile lnrn rnittuq, John MacDonald, Elise Qulaut, Hannah Ujaraq , Rachel Uyarasuk, Susan Sammons and Alexi na Kublu fo r their co-operation and advi ce. Interviews with the eiders wcrc made in ditlè rcnt context undcr Scientific research Licence # 0300999N-M and 0 100900N obtained through the Nunavut Research lnstitutc. \Ve also wish to thank the fCAR a nd CRS ll for their financial support. A prelim inary version of this paper was prescnted at the Fourth Inte rnational Congrcss of Arctic Social Sciences, May 16 to 20, 2001, Qucbec City, Canada. 2. Sec Botte (1932), Jansen (1993), Meiscn (1931), Meslin (1970), Miller (1993) and De Sike ( 1999). 3. L. Kumlien (1879) a nd J. W. nilby (1923) also provide descriptions of this feast. 4. Sec Oostcn (2001) on the rolc of play in the Inuit wintcr feasts and Blaise! & Oosten (1997) for the exchanges in the feasl. 5. See K. Rasmussen ( 1929, pp. 231-232 ; pp. 24 1-243). See also the testi monies from Aatuat a nd Uja raq collectcd by B. Saladin d 'Anglure (1989). The etymology of Tiraj11111 is unclear. D uncan Pryde points out that in the Western A rc lic the word rcfers to a foot movement in a drnm dance (John MacDonald, oral comnnmication, May 200 1). 6. Aagj1111k is a constellation comprising the stars Altaïr a nd Tarazcd and possibly in some rcgions Alshain. T hese stars form pari of the European constellation Aquila (MacDonald 1998, p. 44 ; Oostcn & Laugrand 2001 , p. 169). 7. A good survcy on C hristmas celcbrations, cspccially on the older sourœ s is provided by Kenn Harpcr's book Chris1111as i111/1e Big Igloo. Trne 1a/esfro1111he Cmwdim1 A relie. For the descriptions of Christmas in the l 930s a nd 40s wc rcly on accounts publishcd in various journals such as the n"arer, F:ski1110, Non/1, l1111i1 J\10111'1/y, /1111k 1i1111 , /1111 i1 Totlay as well as oral information provided from Inuit eiders. 8. Sec, fo r cxample, a description of a Christmas celcbration in 18 19- 1820 by Captain Parry (1828 ; quoted in Harper 1984, p. 1). 9. C hristmas celebrations in Labrador (see also Speck 1935) could be frnitfully compared with similar cases in G reenland describcd by Klcivan ( 1960), Ncllcmann (1960), Noote r (1975) a nd Kielsen ( 1996). ln Nunavik, more reccnt Christmas celebratio ns have becn describcd by Lepage ( 1976), Metcalfc (1978), a nd Dorais (2000). See also Anonymous (1981). Gamcs c mergc as parlicularly importa nt. ln Alaska, Christmas celebrations a re also markcd by gamcs, compctitio n a nd communal feasting : sec Bodenhorn ( 1993). 10. Sec also Hantzsch's (1977) account. 11 . L. Ducharme,« C hristnrns in the land of Santa Claus. C hristmas in the far norlh », paper preservcd al the Archives Dcschfü elcls (Ottawa). 12. For the l 930's and l 940's pcriod, other accounts of C hristmas can be found in the Oblate missionary a rchives : see «Christmas in lglulik » (LC B 42 1 C56R 4), «Noël Esquima u » (llEB 3335 L93C 19) and «Noël fiévreux» (HEB 3335 L93C 20). 13. T he year she moved to Aggu Ray she cou Id no lo nger see it at C hristmas: « l thoughl il might be a sign that world would end » (MacDonald 1998, p. 93). 14. Sec, fo rexample, « Noël Esquimau » (HEB 3335 L93C 19). The Oblate missionary observes that the first thing visiting people do whcn they uscd to gathcr for Chr istmas, was Io buy new clothing for ail of lhcm including c hildren at the Hudson's Day Company post. 15. See also «Noël Esquimau » (HEB 3335 L93C 19). The Oblate missionary observes thal Catho lics as well as Anglican assistcd togethcr to the Midnight Mass. 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